>> this is "bbc world news america." funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers use their -- work hard to understand the industry you operate in.

we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> this is "bbc world news america", i am katty kay. edward snowden trades the transit zone for asylum in russia. ariel castro, the man who abducted three women in ohio, is sentenced to life in prison plus 1000 years. first, he tried to explain himself. he helped announce the royal baby to the world. the palacee you to foot man west become a celebrity in calcutta.

welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. after a month of hiding out in the transit area of a moscow airport, tonight, former nsa contractor, edward snowden, has granted a years asylum in russia. this has strained relations between moscow and russia. president obama is under pressure to retaliate. an upcoming summit is in question. >> this was the moment this afternoon when edward snowden wearing a black rucksack with his back to the camera climbed into a car and disappeared into russia, the biggest country in the world. he had been stuck in limbo in the transit zone of the airport. he insisted he would not go to america to face trial. me aht, his lawyer showed copy of the document that

grants him polit asylum in russia for at least a year. he said that he is in a hotel but he would not say where. >> the question of his security is obviously very important. a great powers trying to catch him. the name of the power is the united states of america. >> edward snowden himself said over the past eight weeks, we have seen the obama administration show no respect for international or domestic law but in the end, the law is winning. this evening, however, russia's longest serving dissident pondered whether he knew what he was doing. had the most noble intentions, promoting freedom of information in america, but he finds himself in russia or the situation is much worse. >> edward snowden has lifted the lid on the mass electronic surveillance by the u.s. national security agency.

a program that has been collecting internet data since 2007. america is seeking him on multiple charges including theft of government property and unauthorized indication of defense information. there are more revelations of snowden in the guardian newspaper suggesting that britain has received 100 million pounds of funding from the u.s. intelligence services. by granting edward snowden asylum the kremlin is making a cracking nation. it is moving several games ahead in a diplomatic game of chess. president cute and will not want to alien out. -- will not want to alienate president obama. there was supposed to be a summit between the two leaders. now, that is in jeopardy. >> we are disappointedth

russians would take the step despite the request to have mr. snowden expelled to the u.s. do face the charges against him. >> relations between the two .ountries were already bad today, after a deliberate maneuver by president putin, they took a turn for the worse. unhappy white house. i discussed these developments with the senior member of the foreign affairs committee who joined me from capitol hill. moscowrelations between and russia have been great recently. >> president cute and has never -- president putin has never got his longing for the cold war over. he made an egregious error.

>> what kind of reaction can they take? they are deliberating on whether to go with the g 20 summit. should this be called off? >> they should certainly consider it. it is something that that is tangible and it shows russia that this is not something we are just going to tolerate. this is a very very dangerous situation. is a't think that snowden hero, i think he is a traitor. he should come back to stand trial. i think that he shows belligerence. with those ofate us that were chosen wish that this was over. agent, always a kgb agent. i think that the president

should consider canceling his meeting with putin and take some other measures down the line. >> what specifically are you thinking of? >> russia has been a bad player in a lot places. it is not just the snowden thing. they have been a bad player on syria and iran. they seem to go out of their way to poke their finger in the eye of the u.s. and the uk and other western countries. i don't think you can have normalcy with them. i don't think that we should break relations with them but they need to understand that there is a cost for what they do and there are things that they will look for and international relations. everything is on the table. everything is up for scrutiny. i think that the president should seriously consider not going to the conference and certainly ihe goes to the

conference, he should consider not meeting with putin at all. ariel castro, the man who kidnapped three women and abuse of them were a decade have been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. he tried to convince people he was not a monster but one of his victims gave an emotional statement saying that his hell is just beginning. >> ariel castro had already pleaded guilty to more than 900 charges under a deal struck to spare him the death sentence. today came further details of the ordeal suffered by his captors as he came face to face with one of them for the first time since her release. the three women were abducted, tortured, and repeatedly raped by ariel castro. they were told,

how the boarded up the windows and turned his house into a prison. the decade long ordeal ended after one escaped and called the police. >> she just kept repeating, she saved us. >> today, she hugged relatives of the other women before giving a withering indictment of the man who beat and starve her every time she became pregnant, forcing her to miscarry five times. >> from this moment on, i respect who i am. , you will die a little every day.

the 11 yearsut and the atrocities that you put on us. >> in a letter found at his house, he described himself as a sexual predator. he told the court he was addicted to pornography. >> i am just sick. i had an addiction. i could not control my addiction. >> sentencing the former school bus driver to life in prison, the judge said his victims had suffered terribly and the effect of their ordeal would live with them for the rest of their life. >> a gruesome trial and a really disturbing testimony there from ariel castro. there has been a huge explosion at an ammunition depot in homs.

more than 40 people have been killed by the blast. the explosion is believed to have been caused by rockets fired by rebels fighting to overthrow president assad. thousands of supporters of mohamed morsi have rejected an appeal for the military that cap it to and their sick instinct cairo. the interim leaders have ordered police to and ongoing protests at two sites in the city. the election in some bob ley was largely peaceful but today the opposition says it certainly wasn't fair. that's the election in zimbabwe was largely peaceful. -- the election in zimbabwe was largely peaceful, but today the opposition says it wasn't fair. power says there was no vote rigging. in.he first results are days before an official announcement, the president's party is confident of victory.

the officials say their party has failed in both parliamentary and presidential polls. mugabe's opposition says there is clear evidence of vote rigging. video of people voting illegally in one part of the capital. today, the ndc declared the election a fix. >> this is a huge farce. the credibility of this election has been marred by the violations. this is a sham election that does not reflect the will of the people. >> in the main domestic election monitoralleed

the fairness of the election. million that up to a voters have been turned away ndc polling stations in strongholds. of thecredibility elections is seriously compromised by a systematic effort to disenfranchise urban persons. >> it is hard to be sure what the truth he is. and other african monitors have said that they appeared to be peaceful and credible but have not made a final judgment. the question now is what will the regional observers from the african union say? they now hold the key to this election. mugabe had robert

insisted that they would follow the will of the people. the prime minister has accused your party of voter rigging. >> that is false. that can only be a statement made by someone who is accepting defeat. >> there is an anxious mood on the street. people will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the violence which marred the last election in 2008. a tense time in zimbabwe. italy's former prime minister silvio berlusconi is no stranger to court cases but today he actually lost. sentence was held against him for tax fraud. do not expect him to see him in prison stripes. due to his age, he is going to be performing community service or will have to live under house arrest.

>> in the early evening, a crowd waited outside of italy's supreme court. at stake, the future of a man who has dominated italian politics for 20 years, silvio berlusconi. inside, five judges filed into court to deliver their verdict. they upheld the prison sentence which a lower court had given silvio berlusconi for tax fraud. the former prime minister is unlikely to go to jail because of his age. he faces one year and house arrest or committee service. outside of the court, a small crowd celebrated. >> i'm happy because at last we have reached a condemnation, definite and irreversible. two miles away, silvio

berlusconi was inside of his palazzo when the verdict came. many believe that the judgment has effectively ended his political career. a lower court had banned him from holding public office for five years. that was lowered to three and that sentence will be reviewed again. season iss that his officially over but it does not mean that the berlusconi mood in the country is over as well. 20 years of italian politics are going to finish. germanic and hectic. >> silvio berlusconi, who is here at his residence tonight has long argued that he is one of the most persecuted man in the world, a victim of left wing magistrates. he has faced up to 30 cases. when convicted, he has always launched an appeal.

now, he has received a definitive verdict. he had previously been convicted of having underage sex with a dancer and for abusing his office to help her. he is still appealing those convictions. --ight, supporting his supporters came to silvio berlusconi's residence. his party is in the governing coalition and one of his close allies said they would not undermine the government. said the berlusconi sentence was completely unfounded and he would continue his political struggle. the italian president urged the country to remain calm. >> i guess house arrest looks at different if you happen to live in a palazzo in the center of rome. you're watching "bbc world news ." two babies are given away live

on television in pakistan. some are calling this a ratings stunt. sony reported a $35 million profit for the first three months ending in june. the revival was largely due to the popularity of the smartphone. at the entertainment arm, things are not quite so rosy. some big investors are calling for the division to be sold off. can the little blue men from belgium rescue one of the biggest corporations in japan? people came out for the launch of "smurfs 2." they are hoping that they will do better than the other stars this summer. will smith's sci-fi spectacular "after earth" has been a financial flop for sony.

the failure has opted their largest shareholder to call for the entertainment division to be sold off. daniel loeb and his company owned seven percent of sony shares. he accused the company of treating its entertainment division like a redheaded stepchild. he said sony in payment shows a complete lack of capability and poor financial control. sony's boss disagrees. he believes that the electronics and entertainment divisions are vital to each other. his plan to revitalize the lost electronics division is finally bearing fruit. after years of losses, poor periact losses, the x range of smart phones and tablets in theaters is attracting customers. in the autumn comes the launch

of the playstation four. >> we have become used to people giving stuff away on television shows, but this is pretty weird. one of pakistan's leading programs has awarded two abandoned babies to childless couples all with viewers watching the cup -- this unfold. this has been accused of being a stunt to boost ratings. >> rushing to the stage, the host all of my staff bearing gifts. prizes are an audience favorite. .his time, and air-conditioner whontroversial show man mixes islam and entertainment. she was also one of his giveaways.

this baby found on a rubbish dump. was inhe moment when she the arms of her new parents who had been hoping for a child for 14 years. is overcome.father he says his mother's prayers have been answered. she died the day before. his wife clutches her new daughter who she calls a gift from god. the presenter insists that he is saving abandoned babies, not using them to promote his program. >> these children are not a part of garbage, they are not a part of trash. so, we took them from the garbage and the trash and delivered them to the needy people. the needy parents. >> we sat down with the couples

who are now savoring parenthood. they were vetted by a private charity in than two weeks. ,hat timeframe is typical here where most adoptions are not regulated by the state. baby came into my arms, it felt like another soul had entered my body, like an angel came. she has brought us so much peace. >> did any of you think it was wrong that you are given the baby on television? >> the answer was no. she hoped it would encourage couples to adopt. the fear is that other tv shows will copy the baby giveaway. a child welfare officials said it was done to boost ratings.

>> the baby was given away the same way as the gift. though it was good to find parents, the baby was given like a car, laptop, or motorcycle. it is an insult to the baby and the parents. her parents are proud of their precious gift and want to dispel the stigma around adoption here. they hope she will grow up to be a religious scholar or a civil engineer like her doting father. >> one thing to give away a car but a baby does perhaps raise some ethical questions. well, he played a key role in announcing a royal earth to the world. he has left buckingham palace and gone back to india. he is now sharing his memories of walking up to that easel with those at home.

>> he was the royal foot man. to officially announce the birth of the new prince to the world. the pictures were beamed around the world to millions. toit was an honor for me announce the royal baby. >> his time was short lived when he had to return to his home in calcutta after his visa expired. >> my visa expired on the 28th is the and i think that reason why i came back. >> did you see the extension? >> i did not seek any extension. >> amazingly, his exploits had been a total mystery to his family. they only learned of his role and they saw him in the indian press. it has been a thrill, he said, to work for the royal family. now, he has crashed back down to

reality. switching the royal household for his hometown. a world that really could not be more different than the life he lived during the past year. he lives on the top floor of this apartment building with his two brothers, his mother, and his father. for many of the people that live around here, he is an inspiration to them. he is trying to work out what to do next. he would not mind going back to buckingham palace. >> if i had a new visa, then why not? it would be a pleasure to work for the royal house. >> with or not he can return to britain remains to be seen. both buckingham palace and the home office said they would not comment on individual cases. >> would've there happens to him in the future, it was a ready whole moment of stardom that he had their announcing the royal baby. you can find much more on the

day's news on our website. thank you so much for watching. do tune in tomorrow. >> make sense of international news -- at bbc.com/news. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key strategic decisions.

we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range of industries. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet, los angeles.

captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer producti >> woodruff: edward snowden, the leaker of u.s. surveillance secrets, was granted asylum in russia today. he walked out of the moscow airport where he had been holed up for more than a month. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the "newshour" tonight: we get reaction from washington and moscow and talk with former national security agency officials about the scope of u.s. spying programs. >> they're still collecting everything, content word for word of every doe midwest incommunication in this country. >> the idea that n.s.a. is keeping files on americans as a general rule just isn't true.